Saturday 24th September I woke up to the delightful sound of rain which continued throughout the day, drenching the streets and roads into the mountains surrounding Bilbao. Not what I’d been banking on for race day! The swim was in the river (a salty tidal river) and despite having to stop twice as I got kicked in the face so my goggles came off, I managed to get the fastest swim of my age group and 5th woman, a lovely surprise.

Onto the bike which was absolutely terrifying in the rain. The roads were so wet and the course was pretty hilly with lots of corners. I did lots of overtaking uphill but came downhill very very slowly so I didn’t crash and also to avoid other cyclists who kept going down. A few ambulances came past which wasn’t the most reassuring given I was already so scared about the wet roads. Anyway got to T2 in one piece and the relief got me through the run. I hadn’t run properly for a couple of months with a hip flexor injury so I was chuffed to get through the run without any issues. It was a fun experience minus the bike, maybe I should do aquathlons instead?

Thanks to Jo for coaching me and also to Jez for getting me to practice lots of downhills as without that I’m sure I’d have to go downhill even slower!

Written and raced by Miriam Tyler